CBS shoots and scores with online March Madness ad dollars

Posted Mar 10th 2009 11:55AM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), General Motors (GM), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), Business of Sports

Stanford Cardinal player dunks in March Madness practice

The recession hasn't squashed the spirit of college athletes, it likely won't slow down the creation of office "bracket" pools, and it hasn't stemmed the tide of online ad revenue flowing into CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), which is nearing the end of its 11-year pact with the NCAA for March Madness broadcast rights. (The deal expires in 2013).

A week before the NCAA Tournament begins, CBS has already sold nearly all of its online ad inventory, according to The Wall Street Journal. Just 35 companies -- including Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) -- have bucked up for these streaming ads.

Analysts expect March Madness-related ad revenue for CBS to hit $30 million this year, up 30% from $23 million in 2008. Traditional advertising surrounding the event has yet to be calculated. Last year, total tournament advertising reached $643.2 million, up 23.8% from $519.6 million the previous March.

Viewership, however, is on a downward path. Last year's championship game -- a match-up between Kansas and Memphis -- attracted 19.5 million viewers. This is down from 34.3 million in 1992. Heading into championship week, the top ranked teams are North Carolina, Pittsburgh, UCONN, Memphis, and Louisville.

Beth Gaston Moon works for WeSeed.com, "The stock market for the rest of us." The above comments are not intended as trading or investment advice.

Tags: cbs, cbs corp, CbsCorp, GM, KO, march madness, MarchMadness, ncaa, ncaa tournament, NcaaTournament, online advertising, OnlineAdvertising